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How to Use the SEO Checklist for Drupal

Written by Ed Andrea
on November 15, 2011 |Drupal

The SEO Checklist for Drupal is a very useful module to help with your SEO efforts.

The SEO Checklist module doesn't perform any SEO functions, but it will guide you through the process of optimizing your site and it will recommend best-of-breed modules. After installation the checklist will take you through a list of recommended changes made by the experts at Volacci.

Step 1. Before We Start: Planning

The SEO Checklist is going to recommend a lot of potential modules for you to install. To help clarify things, I've divided those modules up into separate lists. You should start with the Base Modules list and then move on down to the others.

Base Modules

Optional Base Modules

Essential Working Modules.

Anti-Spam Modules. There are several possibilities but you only need to choose one.

Nice if you want them, but not really needed

A note of caution before we begin: not all of these modules have stable releases for Drupal 7. Please use of all these on a test site before using them on a live site.

Step 2. Before We Start: Register for Webmaster Tools

Before you start you are going to want to do is register for Google, Yahoo and Bing accounts and sign up for their webmaster tools. You will need the verification files, tracking codes and other identifiers provided by these services.

Save the verification files to your hard disk.

Write down all account numbers.

Have your username and password to each account handy.

Every SEO program I've tested has needed this information, so if you're serious about SEO, start with signing up for the webmaster tools.

Step 3: Before We Start: The Quickest Workflow

The SEO Checklist will recommend a lot of modules for you to install, so here is one way to approach the installation:

Go to Modules > Install new module. You're going to be doing a lot of this. Install the first module on the list.

Browse for a downloaded module, choose it, then click Install.

Click Enable newly added modules.

Normally what you would do is find the module you just installed and click the check box in the Enabled column, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save to save the changes. Then you would see if there is a configuration link and fill in the details.

But you've got a lot of these to do so you might want to consolidate the tasks.

My actual work flow:

Installed all the modules

Enabled them in small groups

Ran a status report to check for errors

Corrected any errors

Got everything working before I configured them.

What I actually did to make this quicker was skip the Enable step, and go back to the top of the page and click Install new module again and installed another one. I kept installing until i was done.

Then I returned to the page and enabled them in bulk. If you do this, don't try to enable all of them at the same time. It stresses the system and you'll get errors. Enable a group and come back several times until they are all enabled.

Go to Reports > Status Report and check for errors. Just do the minimum amount of work you have to do to get rid of any errors.

Many of these modules are going to need configuration. I'll go back and consider the configuration as I go through the SEO Checklist. That's what it's for. It's going to take a lot of time and study if you're not already an SEO wizard to figure out the perfect configuration for everything.

Now we can click run cron manually and check for errors

Just running cron will clear up some errors. You might have to take action on others.

Be sure to read the cautions too, and take action. The Status report will give you a good idea on what you need to do to fix things.

Step 4. Install the base modules

Now let's get started with the installation. These modules are used by many other modules, and you may already have them installed. If not, you should install them now. They aren't really needed for SEO, but as you go through the checklist and try to install subsequent modules, you'll have to back up and install these too, so you might as well start here.

Step 5: Install the Optional base modules

The modules below are strictly optional and not absolutely essential to SEO. You can always skip these and come back to them if you don't think you need them now. But if you are going to want them, your life will be easier if you install them at this stage, rather than wait until they appear on the checklist.

HTML Purifier: HTML Purifier is a standards-compliant HTML filter library. HTML Purifier will not only remove all malicious code (better known as XSS) with a thoroughly audited, secure yet permissive white list, it will also make sure your documents are standards compliant, something only achievable with a comprehensive knowledge of W3C's specifications.

This is a standalone component that strips improper HTML from entries. You need to download the entire compressed file and get special instructions on installation. It's an improvement on the filtered HTML core module, and isn't 100% necessary to optimization. It just depends on what level of optimization you wish to achieve. To install this you are going to need:

il18n: - Internationalization: If you are only developing in English you can skip this. This is a collection of modules to extend Drupal core multilingual capabilities and be able to build real life multilingual sites. It has some requirements and it has some recommended add-ons. If you are going to have a multi-national site be sure to read this:http://drupal.org/project/i18n

Step 6. Install the Essential Working Modules

Now we come to the modules that actually do the optimization. If you've installed Ctools, Token and Context the rest should go pretty fast. The best and quickest workflow is to download, install and enable them, then configure them later as you go through the SEO Checklist.

Step 9. Access the SEO Checklist

Go to Configuration in the menu bar. Now that everything is installed it's time to start working the checklist.

Scroll down the page to the Search and Metadata section and click on SEO Checklist.

Move through the tabs on the left and check a box and Click Enable if you haven't enabled them yet.

The picture above shows what the list looks like before I installed the Token and Page Title modules. The download link actually takes you to the download page so you could download the module now, and then enable it. If you do it this way you will be working all day. Try the mass installation first.

After I installed the Page Title Module you can see there is now a Configure link. If everything has been installed you will only need to work on configuration as you go through the list.

Each time you complete a task, click the check mark, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button.If you don't Save, it won't record your your check marks, and you won't have a record of what you did.

Keep going through all the tabs. Click the check boxes as you complete a task. Remember to save.

Result

When you're all done you'll have a list of all the completed tasks, time and dates, who did the work, and quick access to the configuration so you can make changes.